Arlington, Va. -- A dissolvable oral strip has been developed to immediately relieve pain from burns caused by ingestion of hot foods and liquids, such as coffee, pizza, and soup. This research is being presented at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition, the world's largest pharmaceutical sciences meeting, in Chicago, Ill., on Oct. 14 - 18.

Lead researcher Jason McConville, Ph.D., and colleagues from University of Texas at Austin, designed the strip for controlled delivery of a local anesthetic, benzocaine, and a therapeutic polymer. Benzocaine, commonly used as a topical pain reliever in dental products and throat lozenges, was chosen as for its non-irritating properties.

The strip is applied directly to the burned part of the tongue, cheek or roof of the mouth. It sticks to the affected area and won't interfere with normal day-to-day activities, as it quickly dissolves for instant pain relief and promotes healing.

"We found these strips to be non-toxic, which has huge potential for anyone who burns their mouth while eating and drinking hot foods--and that's just about everyone," said McConville. "The strips look and behave similar to breath freshening strips that you might find at your local drugstore."

Now based at the University of New Mexico, McConville, and his team, will explore creating a stronger oral strip to treat more severe burns lasting longer than 2-3 days. The next step in furthering their research will be to test the strips in humans and experiment with taste-masking.

The 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition aims to improve global health through advances in pharmaceutical sciences. The meeting features more than 90 programming sessions, including more than 50 symposia and roundtables.

AAPS is pleased to announce that our smartphone application is available at the 2012 AAPS Annual Meeting and Exposition. This application can assist meeting attendees with anything and everything they need to navigate the conference at their fingertips.

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Editor's Note: All press must provide press credentials to attend this meeting. The deadline for online media registration is Oct. 5. After that date, media must register on-site. For media registration, please contact Kimberly Brown at BrownK@aaps.org or (703) 248-4772. To schedule an interview with Jason McConville or for any other press inquiry, please contact Hillarie Turner or Dana Korsen at aaps@ecius.net or 202-296-2002.

About AAPS:

The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists is a professional, scientific society of approximately 11,000 members employed in academia, industry, government and other research institutes worldwide. Founded in 1986, AAPS provides a dynamic international forum for the exchange of knowledge among scientists to serve the public and enhance their contributions to health. AAPS offers timely scientific programs, on-going education, information resources, opportunities for networking, and professional development. For more information, please visit www.aaps.org. Follow us on Twitter @AAPSComms; official Twitter hashtag for the meeting is: #AAPS2012.

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